The Diary
by 242megxxx
Summary: Mildred finds a diary...
1. Chapter 1

**I hate writing a new story when I still have one on the go but I had this idea and felt the need to start it before it became 'just' an idea. **

**x**

**The Diary**

_Checking she was alone Mildred flicked open the purple tartan notebook, gasping with realisation as she recognised the old-fashioned slanting handwriting. It was the same writing that sprawled criticism across her every potion's assignment; the writing of her strict form-tutor, Constance Hardbroom._

Chapter 1.

"I do not remember asking you to have a conversation." Miss Hardbroom spoke sternly at her class of fourth years, whose discussions of returning home were instantly silenced. "Now I know the Christmas holidays are soon to be upon us, but that is not an excuse for a slip in standards. We still have a week left, plenty of time to do some hard work."

"God, she's such a scrooge." Enid Nightshade muttered to her best friend Mildred Hubble, who smirked and nodded.

"Pray tell Mildred, what is so amusing?" Miss Hardbroom rounded on the girl, eyes glittering dangerously "WELL?"

"Nothing Miss Hardbroom," Mildred quickly replaced her face with what she hoped was a sensible one. Miss Hardbroom raised her eyebrows so that they were joined in one long severe line; her 'not impressed' look.

"Ethel please hand out yesterday's potion's tests." She flicked her finger at the pile of papers at the front of the class which vanished and instantly reappeared on the girl's desk, before turning to write instructions on the board.

"How'd you do Maud?" Enid inquired as Maud's test was placed in front of her.

"B" Maud replied nonchalantly, "It was a hard test...not that she ever makes them easy!" she smiled softly. "What about you?"

"C-" Enid replied brightly. "- and a very stern comment about the dangers of experimenting with ingredients- I only _suggested _that a _little_ mint might make a laughing potion taste a little better!"

"Only you Enid!" Maud chuckled. "What about you Millie?"

Mildred passed her paper over to Maud who hastily read the '_D, See me." _scribbled in blood red ink. "Bad luck Mils" Enid said, reading over Maud's shoulder.

"It was only a practise test anyway Millie." Maud smiled sympathetically.

"I'm hopeless." Mildred muttered, staring glumly at her grade.

"Page 231 girls, I want you to answer the questions about the uses of Dandelion root." Miss Hardbroom turned back to face the class. "In silence, Enid Nightshade!" Miss Hardbroom shot a glare at the girl who had opened her mouth to console her friend.

Xx

The girls made their way hastily out of the potion's lab, Maud and Enid shooting sympathetic glances at their friend who had remained seated.

Constance Hardbroom sat at her desk, deciding what exactly to say to Mildred. Her lectures never did the infuriating pupil any good but Constance refused to give up. She knew Mildred was intelligent; when she applied herself she could give Ethel a run for her money, but that was the problem; the girl didn't apply herself.

The door closed as the last remaining pupils Ethel and Drusilla left, shooting Mildred a satisfied smirk as they shut the door.

"Well Mildred once again you seem to have failed your potion's test. I'd like you to explain to me why." Miss Hardbroom had moved from her seat and was leaning on the front of her desk, dark eyes x-raying Mildred's own.

"I don't know Miss." Mildred mumbled.

"I'll tell you why Mildred." Miss Hardbroom's eyes flashed with fierce annoyance. "I watched yesterday as you spent most of the test daydreaming out the window, meaning that you only managed to answer about a third of the questions. Had you concentrated on the test, you might have done a lot better. Mightn't you?" Mildred recognised the rhetorical question and wisely kept quiet.

" I've told you time and time again, but nothing seems to get through to you girl. I expect two hundred lines by Friday entitled 'I must learn to stay alert and live in the real world.' Off you go."

Mildred chucked her satchel over her shoulder feeling very down. Miss Hardbroom had been very hard on her this year, even more so than before. She couldn't help her daydreaming. Cackles was always so cold and draughty in winter and she couldn't help thinking of the roaring, hot fire and the decorated Christmas tree at home. Her mind had been on precisely that during the potion's test and before she knew it time had been up.

Constance stared at her student walking out the room despondently. She knew that one way or another, Mildred Hubble would be the death of her.

"Oh stop feeling sorry for yourself Mildred." Constance spoke with icy precision "Things might seem bad right now but they can and will get worse if you continue to spend your time unwisely in my classes." Miss Hardbroom warned.

"Yes Miss Hardbroom." Mildred replied before exiting the classroom.

Constance watched the girl leave, angry at both herself and the girl for becoming so irate. Only Mildred Hubble seemed to have that effect on her. She hated to see such potential go to waste.

Xx

"Usual lecture?" Enid smirked as her friend entered the hallway.

"You two didn't have to wait." She eyed her two friends. "Yes, usual lecture and two hundred lines." Mildred grimaced

"Bitch!" The girls all exclaimed in unison.

"I hope she can't hear through walls." Maud eyed the wall nervously.

"We better get to spells. Bet Miss Cackle lets us do something fun and Christmassy."

"She better, or else I'm gonna switch to a non-magic school. Apparently they watch Christmas films every day in the last week!"

"hahaa nonsense Enid!" Maud chuckled. Her friend had such imagination.

Xx

Miss Cackle had been true to the occasion and taught them the spells needed to turn an ordinary tree into a Christmas pine. Miss Bat had them singing 'The Holly and the Ivy' in a very high pitched key. By the end of the day Mildred was feeling much more festive and had cheered up considerably.

Mildred made her way through the corridor back to her bedroom, still humming Christmas carols. Maud had stayed behind for choir and Enid had rushed off to help in the kitchens (a punishment thought of and implemented by HB due to Enid complaining too loudly about the horridness of school dinners.) She barged her way through the double-doors that separated the hall from the stairs, realising too-late that someone was on the other side.

"Aghhh!" Came a screeching sound that made Mildred wince. Mildred had walked straight into Miss Hardbroom knocking her to the floor. Books and papers flying everywhere.

"Well don't just stand there you clumsy girl!" Miss Hardbroom snarled as Mildred stood there surveying the damage. Mildred didn't need to be asked twice, she scrambled to the floor gathering both hers and Miss Hardbroom's books into piles as Miss Hardbroom slowly got to her feet and wiped the invisible dust from her black dress.

Miss Hardbroom snatched the pile of books that the girl was offering her. "For the life of me Mildred, I cannot understand why you cannot simply look where you are going." She spoke in an exasperated tone.

"I'm sorry Miss." Mildred bit her lip.

"Yes well, you can add two hundred lines of 'I must look where I am going' to your collection." Miss Hardbroom spoke haughtily and with one final glare continued her way down the corridor.

"Yes Miss Hardbroom." Mildred mumbled feeling her festive mood disappearing quickly as she set up off the stairs to her room.

xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the fab reviews you lovely lot!**

**Chapter 2**

"She will have to go!" Constance said melodramatically as she entered the staffroom.

"Mildred I presume?" Imogen Drill smiled softly, knowing too well the complicated relationship between the potions teacher and 'The Worst Witch.'"

"That girl! That clumsy girl... she managed to walk straight into me." Miss Hardbroom stated, anger still bubbling from every pore on her usually impassive face.

"Oh dear, poor Mildred." Amelia Cackle spoke softly; she had a fond spot for the girl that had saved her academy countless times.

"Poor Mildred indeed!" said Miss Hardbroom. "She was daydreaming! After I had already warned her. She does it deliberately!"

"She is a creative soul, she's like myself at her age. I was constantly daydreaming, it never did me any harm!" Miss Bat smiled but this was instantly dropped at the look on Miss Hardbroom's face.

"I'm sure the girl apologised Miss Hardbroom?" Imogen asked politely, trying to keep a straight face.

"Yes…but that is not the point is it Miss Drill? She continues to ignore my warnings and causes calamity at every possible moment! The girl is a disaster, she might have saved the school from a peril once or twice but she has a bad attitude that has no place at this esteemed school of witchcraft… furthermore she.."

Imogen smiled as Constance continued her rant. She knew that deep down the woman didn't believe any of the words she was saying.

Xx

Mildred entered her freezing bedroom, lit a candle, placed the pile of books she had been carrying on her desk and threw herself on her bed, instantly joined by Tabby.

"I'm a disaster aren't I tabs? No wonder Miss Hardbroom hates me so much! I bet she's never had so much as one daydream in her entire life…Not that she probably ever needed to. I bet she was just like Ethel Hallow at school; little miss perfect. Whereas I cannot seem to do anything right! Four-hundred lines! On the last week of term… it was an accident too! You know what Maud and Enid are right about her... she is a bitch."

Mildred jumped off her bed and rooted through the pile of books and paper trying to find a notepad so she could begin her lines. Before she could find one a small purple tartan notebook caught her eye.

"This isn't mine Tabs.." Mildred raised an eyebrow. "It's probably Mauds." She chucked the book to one side and finally finding her notepad got to work.

The first lot of lines took her until supper where cold liver and onions were on the menu. After attempting to swallow the foul-food Mildred made her excuses to her friends and went back to her bedroom in order to get the second lot done.

"LIGHTS OUT" came the bellow from Miss Hardbroom. Mildred scrambled to finish her last line before her door was pushed open. Miss Hardbroom stood in the doorway, a black cloak concealing her purple silk pyjamas and her long thick hair hanging loose instead of restrained in her customary tight bun. The tall imposing witch glared at Mildred.

"I believe Mildred that lights out has been at the same time every night for the four years you have been at this school has it not?" She spoke sarcastically.

"Yes Miss Hardbroom." Mildred mumbled.

"-In which case you should be in bed. I hope your behaviour improves dramatically tomorrow Mildred, although I am not holding my breath. Goodnight." With that the potion's mistress closed the door and Mildred was left alone.

Xx

The wind howled and whirled around the great turrets of Castle Overblow. Mildred shivered in bed, freezing and quite unable to sleep. She still carried the childish trait of being afraid of the dark and the spooky noises of the wind battering the sleeping castle were not helping matters. Finally giving up she checked the time, 12.01am. Miss Hardbroom was bound to be in deep slumber by now. She hastily lit the candle by her bedside and looked around the room, looking for something to distract her. Her eyes fell on the little purple book that lay on her desk, perhaps she could read some of Maud's notes. The girl wrote down everything in lessons, revising was sure to send her straight to sleep…

Mildred grabbed the book from her desk and settled back down in her covers.

Checking she was still alone Mildred flicked open the purple tartan notebook, gasping with realisation as she recognised the old-fashioned slanting handwriting, so very different from Maud's large unjoined letters. She snapped the book shut in horror.

It was the same writing that sprawled criticism across her every potion's assignment; the writing of her strict form-tutor, Constance Hardbroom.

Excitement getting the better of her Mildred flicked the book open to the first page.

_Diary of Miss. Constance Anne Hardbroom. Private and Confidential._

Xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! It's been a long time... **

**I've been working on this chapter forever, I really struggled with finding the right words to get across the vivid pictures I see in my head. Anyway I really hope you enjoy it! The idea comes from a strange dream I had which had mingled together bits of Harry Potter and the WW...**

**Please Review :)**

Chapter 3

Excitement getting the better of her Mildred flicked the book open to the first page.

_Diary of Miss. Constance Anne Hardbroom. Private and Confidential._

The elegantly written words disappeared from the page as soon as Mildred had read them. Puzzled, Mildred flicked through the rest of the diary, frustrated as she saw blank after blank page.

"I knew it was too good to be true Tabs." Mildred rolled her eyes at her sleepy cat.

Excitement thoroughly dwindled; Mildred sighed and closed the book, placing it on her bedside table. The creak of a door somewhere in the castle made her heart pound and she hastily blew out her candle. It wouldn't be good to be caught awake so long after lights out.

Xx

Constance Hardbroom lay in her bed, attempting with no success to shut off her mind in order to get some much needed sleep. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. She just didn't know what. Years of being in the teaching profession had given her laser sharp senses. She knew that there was a rumour, started by one of her past students, that she could smell trouble before any plans to create it had been made.

Grabbing her cloak and lighting a candle she made her way out of her room. Her long dark hair swished in the night-time breeze. She was determined to patrol the castle until she found what it was that was amiss and then put the fear of God into the rule breaking students. "First stop, the fourth year corridor," she thought to herself, knowing the likeliness of certain members of her form group to be causing trouble by having 'Midnight feasts' as they called them.

xx

Turning over onto her side, Mildred tried to block out the sound of the wind bashing the castle.

A sudden bright light in the corner of her eye grabbed Mildred's attention. She sprang her head up from her pillow and rubbed her eyes, not daring to believe what she was seeing…

The diary seemed to be glowing with a bright white light…

"What…on…earth…" she whispered to herself, before a sudden darkness engulfed her.

Unaware whether her eyes were shut or open, Mildred felt herself hurtling through some sort of blackness – a magical vortex of some kind. Down, down, down, the fall continued as Mildred screamed, hoping in vain that someone would be able to hear her.

Xx

Thud

Mildred felt herself hit the ground before she saw it coming. "Ouch" She groaned, looking at her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of forest, very similar to the one that surrounded the academy.

"Where am I?" Mildred spoke aloud, gazing in wonderment. She cradled her arms against her body to protect herself from the cool wind that felt so very real, feeling drastically underdressed in just her nightshirt and bed-socks. She gazed at the leaves ahead, which were vibrant shades of purple, brown and red, so very different to the bare branches of the forestry at Cackles in its current mid-winter.

A familiar sound caught her ears and she looked overhead; seeing a familiar sight. Two broomsticks were flying through the air, low enough for Mildred to make out that they were ridden by a middle-aged man with greying ends and a teenaged girl with jet black hair.

"EXCUSE ME" Mildred shouted, trying in vain to attract the rider's attentions. Confused and annoyed Mildred carried on shouting. "HELLO?" but was ignored once again.

"It's like they can't see me!" Mildred murmured in realisation. Scrambling in the forest she made to follow in the direction the broomsticks were heading.

It wasn't long before she came to a clearing that contained a large Georgian-style mansion perched on a slight hill with a large stone brick wall surrounding it. A large iron gate, similar to that of an old-fashioned prison was wide open and the sign next to the gate was written with a bold, imposing font:

**WITCH TRAINING COLLEGE**

**All visitors _must_ report to reception upon arrival.**

Xx

Constance sped through the corridor; slightly annoyed that she couldn't hear any noise from any night-time gatherings. "Am I going mad? She thought to herself. Her eyes grazed over the names on the student's doors, lingering on Mildred Hubble's. Something in the back of her mind was niggling her to check Mildred's room.

Xx

**Thank you for reading :)**


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